gold embroidery

The Award season just went by and by the time it culminates at Oscars, one pretty much has a good idea of how celebrities are going to dress and the style they would choose to follow. Oscars brought in drama but a lot of it was rather littered with conventional choices. However a lot of actresses did manage to turn heads for all the right reasons on the red carpet.Read the rest of this entry »

Its always fun to see two different interpretations to a singular theme in the same month by two different designers with their distinct style. While at Wills Lifestyle fashion week, veterans Pankaj and Nidhi showcased a matador inspired collection, our local young Akif too coincidentally worked on the same lines with the matador. While not as extravagant as the masters, Akif holds his own ground when you compare the two. Moving on, Akif reinterprets traje de luces in his own style and succeeds to a greater degree in presenting what he is known for…a wearable collection.

The gilded and thread embroidery were major part of the collection inspired by the Spanish floral motifs. Many of the ensembles featured embroidered shoulder emblems. The collection featured vines as well as overall composed florals in tilla, dori and resham embroideries. The ensembles in cottons, silk and raw-silk esp the Matador jackets were embellished using gota and dori work. Using colors like black, offwhite, maroon and blue, he made sure he played them well intelligently along with the embroideries and the prints. The collection also featured Spanish inspired prints that were composed according to the ensemble. I was glad that he did not fall into the trap of ‘feeling to change it up to suit Pakistani market’ . He stuck to the theme and succeeded in delivering without going the desi route.

The collection with its structured look hit homerun at many occasions for me. Clean lines, simple silhouettes, let the surface treatment shine. From crop jackets, tailored pants, structured flared dresses, capes, body cons, capes,gown and a peplum dress too. He used his many pieces to layer up his cottons yet not flaring out in dramatic exaggeration. Even with the whole androgynous vibe in many pieces, he manages to keep his separates feminine in their look. With simpler and straighter cuts, he keeps the presentation all about the sleek, chic and a compact look. Also loved his take on the Montero (the hat of the costume). Using basket with jewellery and chains accentuating then in the whole look was genius to achieve that shape.

Loved.. the crop jacket in the opening look, The dark gothic vintage floral structured dress was an instant fav majorly coz of the print. Reminded me of Spanish roses in vintage illustrations of the fairy tales. The gown with the vest … the structured bodice with fluid fabric n thigh high slit just works. Loved this last look… everything about it. From the geometric crop jacket layered on cotton to those nicely fitted embroidered pants. Loved e’m.